12/24/2010

The question which keeps haunting much of Coetzee's writing is how to do justice to the (racial/gender) Other in the dominant language that has historically been one of the instruments ensuring that this Other is kept subordinate. This question is about taking sides: would you side with the dominant history written by the victors? Or would you side with the vanquished in the unfailing quest for justice, even if the possibility of restorative justice is limited? In Waiting for the Barbarians, the Magistrate is tormented by this ethical question. In his strange relationship with the barbarian girl, he tries to respond ethically to the otherness of this individual who has been classified as inferiro by virtue of race and gender. This (im)possibility of representing the Other constitutes the Magistrate's version of hell and his obsession with shame, damnation, ethical responsibility, and searching for salvation.

Here are three audio clips regarding this well-known South African novelist and his work. Listen carefully and write down anything that inspires you.

Flannery O'Connor wrote that "im my own stories I have found that violence is strangely capable of returning my characters to reality and preparing them to accept their moment of grace" and that violence "is the extreme situation that best reveals what we are essentially." Choose one from the two stories we have read ("A Good Man is Hard to Find" and "Everything that Rises Must Converge") in light of these statements about violence. What "moments of grace" do you see?

12/07/2010

In Toni Morrison's "Recitatif" (1983), Maggie is a crippled, mute, deaf old woman who is constantly conjured up in Twyla's and Roberta's memories. However, the memory about Maggie is constantly rewritten and revised; each woman has a different recollection of an incident in which Maggie either fell down or was knocked down in the orchard at St. Bonny's.

Why are they so fascinated with Maggie? How do you explain the women's paradox of secretly identifing with Maggie and silently abusing/bullying her in their imagination?

Below is the lyrics of "Pieces of You," written by American singer/song writer Jewel. After listening to the song and comprehending its lyrics, can you find any clues to understanding "the Maggie thing"?

"Pieces Of You"

She's an ugly girl, does it make you want to kill her?She's an ugly girl, do you want to kick in her face?She's an ugly girl, she doesn't pose a threat.She's an ugly girl, does she make you feel safe?Ugly girl, ugly girl, do you hate her'Cause she's pieces of you?She's a pretty girl, does she make you think nasty thoughts?She's a pretty girl, do you want to tie her down?She's a pretty girl, do you call her a bitch?She's a pretty girl, did she sleep with your whole town?Pretty girl, pretty girl, do you hate her'Cause she's pieces of you?You say he's a faggot, does it make you want to hurt him?You say he's a faggot, do you want to bash in his brain?You say he's a faggot, does he make you sick to our stomach?You say he's a faggot, are you afraid you're just the same?Faggot, Faggot, do you hate him'Cause he's pieces of you?You say he's a Jew, does it mean that he's tight?You say he's a Jew, do you want to hurt his kids tonight?You say he's a Jew, he'll never wear that funny hat again.You say he's a Jew, as though being born were a sin.Oh Jew, oh Jew, do you hate him'Cause he's pieces of you?